Luckiest Girl Alive Review: An impressive Mila Kunis shoulders this mediocre mystery thriller

2.5/5

Story: Ani Fanelli, a popular writer at The Women's Bible in New York, is engaged to a wealthy Luke Harrison. But a few weeks before her wedding, her past catches up with her, which might change her life. Was Ani one of the victims in the incident or an accomplice in the dreadly incident?

Review: When Tiffani Fanelli (Chiara Aurelia) accidentally brushes past a woman, who seems to have the world under her feet, during her school trip to New York, the teenager makes a decision for life- that she wants to be just like her! Years later, Ani (Mila Kunis) becomes a popular writer at The Women's Bible in New York and is engaged to a wealthy Luke Harrison the fourth (Finn Wittrock). Her rosy life seems perfect on paper, but deep inside Ani continues to battle against her traumatic past even as she looks forward to a bright future.

Right from the beginning, we get to see that Ani has been struggling to come out of her past when she describes her as a wind-up doll, who would say exactly what people wanted to hear from her. Ani, who maintains that she steers clear of carbs, gobbles down a pizza when Luke goes to the washroom. She lives two lives.

A few weeks before her wedding, Ani's brutal past shows up full throttle in front of her when Aaron Wickersham (Dalmar Abuzeid), an independent filmmaker, approaches her for an interview for his documentary about an incident where Ani was one of the victims. Or was she an accomplice? Agreeing to be part of the interview, might change her life topsy-turvy. So, will she be finally ready to face her past?

Luckiest Girl Alive is the film adaptation of Jessica Knoll's bestselling novel of the same name. The narrative straddles between Ani's past and her present. As the film traverses to her teenage days, the film delves into bullying, gangrape and gun violence in schools. The film begins on a high note and Ani's ordeal in her past piques ones interest. And the constant oscillation between the past and the present succeeds in building the tension. We also get a glimpse of the tales of Ani’s mother Dina (Connie Britton) and Ani's boss Lolo (Jennifer Beals) as Ani thinks of her own journey.

But as the film progresses, the interest-o-meter gradually begins to fall. This is probably because the plot delves into too many issues - how teenage bullying can have a ghastly impact on one's life, how the society is yet to openly talk about gangrape and gun violence.  The cinematography (Colin Watkinson) and editing (Nancy Richardson) are a huge plus points for the film as director Mike Barker presents many imaginary scenes in the present, which instantly grab our attention. Similarly, in the shootout scene, we get to see the action from both the attacker's and victim's point of view.

Mila Kunis carries the film on her shoulders and sparkles as Ani Fanelli, despite the mediocre finale. Chiara Aurelia, who plays the young Ani, puts up a convincing performance as the tormented and repulsive scenes are filmed on her. Scoot McNairy as Ani’s former teacher Mr Larson, who seemed to be the only beacon of hope in Ani's school life, deserved more screen presence and it was a bit despairing to see his character leave abruptly. Likewise, Ani's mother's character, too, could have been etched better. Luckiest Girl Alive tries to dish out a portrait of a woman who tries to speak the truth, but lacks the twists and turns and only ends up as a tepid affair.

Verdict: A film that starts off on a high note, but ends up with a tepid finale